Download details: Extending SharePoint with Groove

 

This paper explains how SharePoint teams can use Groove and its SharePoint Files tool to efficiently collaborate with offline field workers and selected consultants.

Download details: Extending SharePoint with Groove

Groove collaboration is as easy as socializing. But it is not limited by time or location. Groove users can interact with colleagues and other contacts in a wide range of work environments, even with offline contributors, via a single familiar interface. As part of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite, Groove 2007 partners well with SharePoint, extending collaboration beyond members of a SharePoint team to include field personnel and partners who need to work offline or do not have access to a SharePoint site.

Groove workspaces are similar to SharePoint sites, providing virtual meeting areas where team members can jointly assemble information, share files, write reports, discuss plans, design forms, manage meetings, and perform other tasks. Groove enhances the workspace experience by allowing members to efficiently collaborate with external contributors or work offline. Groove synchronizes online and offline work with documents stored in SharePoint libraries via an onboard SharePoint Files tool.

A Groove workspace with a SharePoint Files Tool provides the following benefits to organizations that store file content in SharePoint document libraries:

· Offline access to file content. The Groove SharePoint Files tool provides mobile workers and those who have limited Internet access with an environment in which they can view and update files in a team’s SharePoint library while offline or in a low-bandwidth environment.

· Access to file content for selected contributors outside of the enterprise. The Groove SharePoint Files tool enables internal and external members of a workspace to conveniently and efficiently collaborate on files stored in a SharePoint library.

Groove is easy to set up and does not require IT assistance. Built-in security safeguards provide a protected environment for collaboration among internal and external Groove users. If centralized Groove management is required beyond what is supported by Windows and SharePoint systems, Groove Server can be installed to oversee client activity.